Reactive oxygen species drove red lineage phytoplankton to displace green lineage phytoplankton during the Mesozoic

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Number 2, January 2026.
SignificanceOur research reveals that reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive molecules produced during stress, played a key role in one of Earth’s major evolutionary transitions: the rise of red lineage phytoplankton at the beginning of the Mesozoic. These …